In oil drilling systems, production well heads for a well typically have a stuffing box associated therewith. The stuffing box is disposed around the polish rod and allows the polish rod to reciprocate therethrough when the well is producing fluid. The polish rod is typically located within a pressurized liquid chamber and partially within the ambient. The stuffing box provides a liquid seal between the rod and the pressurized liquid chamber and it may also provide lubrication for the rod through either separate lubrication glands or by utilizing the crude oil that is being pumped as lubricating fluid. The packing gland assembly typically includes deformable disks with pressure applied thereto to cause deformation thereof. This produces a liquid fight seal about the rod between the ambient and the pressurized liquid chamber.
The stuffing boxes that exist today have a tendency to occasionally leak. When this leak occurs, it is sometimes referred to as a minor "blowout". Since most wellheads are located in remote areas, this only presents a problem due to the contamination of the soil disposed about the wellhead. In the present day of increasing environmental concerns, this is a significant detraction to pumping oil out of the ground. When this oil leaks or spills onto the ground, it is necessary to remove the earth that is contaminated and place new earth around the wellhead. However, if the stuffing box continues to leak, this must be repeated at great expense.